During its first voting meeting of the session, the Pennsylvania House Transportation Committee unanimously advanced three pieces of legislation, including one intended to make city streets safer for cyclists.
House Bill 291, sponsored by state Reps. Mary Jo Daley (D-Montgomery) and David Maloney (R-Berks), would allow municipalities to create parking-protected bicycle lanes between curbs and parked vehicles, allowing bicyclists to ride separated from vehicular traffic.
Current state law requires vehicles to park within 12 inches of a curb and does not take pedestrian plazas or bicycle lanes into consideration.
State Rep. Ed Neilson (D-Philadelphia), chair of the House Transportation Committee, said that the legislation gives the local authorities the ability to install pedestrian plazas and parking protected bicycle lanes if they chose, but does not mandate they to do so.
Neilson cited the death of Dr. Barbara Friedes, a Philadelphia cyclist who was killed by a motorist in July, as an example of a crash protected bike lanes might have prevented. The driver, Michael Vahey, is charged with homicide by vehicle while driving drunk and related offenses.
“This legislation passed this House four times,” Neilson said. “I can’t imagine the amount of lives that we’ve cost by not having this on the second floor.”
“Her life could have been saved if this was a protected bike lane,” Neilson added.
In the previous session, the bill was also unanimously approved by the House Transportation Committee and was passed by the full state House by a 198-5 vote, however it was not approved by the Senate.
The Transportation Committee passed two other bills Monday.
House Bill 257, sponsored by Neilson, requires PennDOT to include at least one question on the written driving test about how to drive safely in a work zone and require minors to look at educational materials on the dangers of unsafe driving in a work zone prior to taking the test for a junior driver’s license.
House Bill 240, sponsored by House Minority Transportation Committee Chair Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre), would eliminate the requirement to test hearing aids worn by school bus drivers. Instead, school bus drivers who require hearing aids would be required to simply pass a hearing test while wearing the devices. The bill has support from PennDOT and the Pennsylvania School Bus Association.